


To War

by ThrowawayWriter78



Series: Search & Rescue [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, Drama, Gen, Retelling, Retelling with Embellishments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28473792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThrowawayWriter78/pseuds/ThrowawayWriter78
Summary: Sykkuno is taken by Team Rocket.The Global Network goes to war.[Low effort one-shot. Dramatic retelling of the Sykkuno kidnapping incident on the Rust server with some embellishments.Written with crack fic intent to get it out of the writer's system, but turned somewhat "serious".]
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: Search & Rescue [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2122782
Comments: 2
Kudos: 96





	To War

**Author's Note:**

> This is a throwaway account because I don't want any of these stories near my main fanfic account. Tbh, I should be working on my longfic but writers go where the plot bunnies take us so I'm going to see this as a "quick and dirty minimal editing one-shot" writing challenge. Inspiration hit _hard_ for this but this is a low effort one-shot compared to my usual work and focusing more on dialogue and scene flow.
> 
> A lot of dialogue was ripped from clips though rearranged to make more sense in story. It's obviously set in a fictional universe where people of the Network are immortal, but there's no more lore than that. HAHA.
> 
> Anyway, skip by my rambling and enjoy.

xQc had enough.

He could understand a loss in the world they lived in; deaths were inconvenient to those who were immortal. He would understand retaliation in a world this brutal where only those on top dominated.

But he couldn’t accept people _ganging up_ on him, _beating him into submission_ and _taking **his** things_, including his prized weapons.

At first, it was fun. But now, it was personal and they _made_ it that way.

So xQc would hit them _all_ where it hurt.

He peeked through the scope and scanned the area again from his hiding spot, awaiting their target within the confines of Fort Forever. With Greek’s intel, they knew _he_ came to the area often, searching for materials to craft with.

It was only a matter of time before he would arrive.

But thankfully, it seemed they didn’t need to wait long.

The crunch of boots meeting the dry dirt sounded, growing louder with each step against the silence.

Greek stepped up and walked into view of his scope sight as he and mendo walked up to their 'guest', weapons drawn but held casually in their arms.

“Oh, hey Sykkuno,” Greek greeted with faux friendliness. “How are you doing?”

“Hey Greek!” Sykkuno greeted back with a smile. He glanced between the two of them. “There’s a lot more people here than usual.”

“Yes, well…” Greek said with a smile in turn, as mendo circled the new arrival.

At once, they both raised their guns and trained it at the unsuspecting man – Greek from the front, aimed at his heart and mendo from behind, aimed at his back. xQc kept the cross on the scope aimed at Sykkuno’s head, just in case he tried to run. His gaze caught sight of the gun that Sykkuno kept with him. If they did this right, he wondered if they might be able to claim one more prize.

“I’m going to keep it plain and simple, Sykkuno,” Greek explained as he gestured with the gun in his hands. “Drop your weapon and take off your suit…” Sykkuno’s smile faded. “…or otherwise, I’m going to have to kill you.”

“I, I mean…” Sykkuno stuttered weakly. “Don’t you already have clothes?”

“You can’t have too many,” Greek said.

“If you want another suit, I have 5 more in my base,” Sykkuno offered with a weak smile. X’s eyes narrowed – was he seriously negotiating for his life?

Mendo shifted his aim to Sykkuno’s head as xQc stepped out from his hiding spot, sniper rifle still aimed at their target.

“W-Why does everyone have their guns out?” Sykkuno asked, stuttering as he tried to maneuver to his right. Whether this was in feigned or genuine ignorance, X couldn't tell. But regardless, the only thing Sykkuno met with as a result of his movement was the log gate to the fortress, trapping him between the three men.

“Listen. Some of your teammates want to kill us,” xQc explained coldly. “They’re ordering a hit on us. But we refuse to be their prize.” His eyes narrowed in a glare. “And we’re here to claim a _bigger_ prize.”

Mendo took this as his cue to shift his position and maneuver to trap Sykkuno against the wall. Greek flanked him to his right as xQc stepped up to flank his left, whipping out his cellphone in the process. Fingers flew across the screen in typing out their message to send through the Global Network on their new acquisition.

“Sykkuno,” Mendo said, trying one last attempt at a negotiation route. “You know me. You know I’m a good guy. I saved you before. You know, if you walk over to your teammates and say, ‘hey, we should give everything we have to xQc, give him back his sniper rifle and not kill him anymore’ then maybe they would listen to you.”

“No,” xQc cut in as he sent the first two messages. “No more talking.”

They didn’t listen to him when he tried to speak. They wouldn’t negotiate.

The time for talking was _over._

He would only have _action_ and he would only have _blood_.

This was war.

* * *

The messages that ran through the Global Network were loud and clear.

‘We have Sykkuno.’

‘We’re holding him hostage.’

Shroud couldn’t believe the messages saw on the screen. Would xQc really be that reckless to _take_ Sykkuno?

Ludwig from Sykkuno’s team was the first to respond. ‘What do you want?’

Respectably calm and to the point, despite the dire situation.

Valkyrae’s message followed. ‘?!?!?!?!?!’

Shroud smiled at the second, more ‘eloquent’ message that said nothing and yet everything at once.

“Did you see what he said?” bnans asked the room where their group hung out, looking up from their phone. Everyone who milled about the room turned to her as they waited, pausing the discussion on their next mission. “Goblin has Sykkuno.”

“Oh, what?!”

"Are you kidding?"

“Not Sykkuno! He's innocent!”

“Oh god,” Shroud muttered under his breath, already sensing the rising protectiveness and tension in the room. Was xQc _really_ going to be that reckless to _take_ _Sykkuno?_

His phone pinged. His eyes met the screen to see another Valkyrae message. ‘YOU GUYS STOLE SYKKUNO?!?!?!’

“This kinda changes things.”

“Yeah, this…” Shroud said as he read the messages over again. “This changes everything.”

“Now, he’s not just a Goblin, he’s a _terrorist_.”

“You don’t _take Sykkuno_ ,” bnans said as more messages ran through the Network at the news.

“So, we’re raiding his base? Do I bring the C4?”

“Well, we have to get Sykkuno out,” bnans said, joining in the push to help. “We’ll tear his base _down!!_ ”

Shroud would have to be the voice of reason then. “Hold on,” he said as his fingers flew across the screen of his phone, typing out a message. “We need proof.”

He clicked ‘Send’ then typed again, repeating multiple times until his message was done…

…and now, they would wait.

* * *

xQc frowned at the words on the screen.

‘We need PROOF.’

Shroud.

‘Photo of Sykkuno in your base now.’

hJune.

‘Just know: If this is a lie, big mistake.’

Shroud again. X’s eyes narrowed in a glare.

‘If this is real, even bigger mistake.’

Then he let out a growl as he tightened his grip on his phone. If they wanted picture proof, he would _give them_ one they would _remember_.

“Out of your clothes,” Greek ordered with a gun to Sykkuno. “Now.”

Sykkuno hesitated. “He’s asking me to take my clothes off and it’s making me uncomfortable—”

“Out of your clothes NOW!” Greek ordered forcefully, shoving the barrel of the gun closer to Sykkuno’s body.

Still Sykkuno hesitated, though he dropped the pack he had on his back, causing a flare to roll out. His eyes darted to the fallen item, and he moved quickly to grab for it but was cut-off by the sound of a gunshot.

A pained sound left his lips as he fell to the ground, blood pouring from the wound on his leg where Greek shot him.

“Oh Jesus…” Sykkuno groaned in pain.

“Listen, if you’re not willing to be a hostage,” xQc said as he stepped up to the fallen man. “You’re gonna have to be a cadaver. Make your choice.”

Sykkuno winced as he considered his options. But sighed in resignation as he took off his jacket and powered through the pain.

* * *

Ludwig was mad. _Fuming_ mad.

It was already bad enough that xQc had Sykkuno – _Sykkuno,_ _of all people –_ as a hostage after shooting up so many people on the Network. But what was worse was the ‘proof’ xQc sent.

He looked at the photo before him of Sykkuno, face contorted in pain but bearing it through a smile, with less clothing, hands tied and an obviously fresh leg wound. His grip on his phone tightened as he swiped out of the photo and contacted the rest of the team.

‘HEY, COME HELP SAVE SYKKUNO’

‘OPERATION OH JESUS IN FULL EFFECT’

His knee bounced in anticipation as he waited for the responses of his teammates but cursed under his breath as only Rae and Ash responded. He knew Corpse and Jack would have their phones on them even while they were off-site on other missions, but he didn’t know if they’d make it in time for the operation to save their favorite. He considered bringing in outside help like Toast, but he didn’t know if they’d have time to meet up and properly coordinate.

They needed to move, and they needed to do it _now._

Finally, the response came. ‘Where to meet?’

‘H7. See you there.’

Full team or not, they’d get their friend back. Ludwig would make sure of it – no matter the cost.

* * *

The knock on the door was unmistakable as the unique knock pattern signaled their expected company’s arrival.

“Hitman’s here,” bnans said to the room as she walked down the stairs to greet their ‘guests’.

Shroud, in the meantime, looked to the rest of the team in the room as they prepared their weapons and armor for their apparent next ‘mission’ chosen for them.

“So, what’s the plan?”

“If he’s lying,” Shroud explained as he picked up one of the guns in his cache. “We still send the hitman. If he really has Sykkuno, we need to get our rockets. We need to get our satchels. Chopper. Everything. We need to go in.”

He looked to everyone around the room, and all seemed to agree with his proposed plan.

“This way,” bnans said as she returned to the room and stepped through with two new faces.

Myth smiled as he scanned the room with Hasanabi beside him, noting all the faces eyeing him warily but he didn’t seem fazed. He saved Shroud for last.

“So, I hear you have a job for me?” Myth said jovially to the group’s leader.

Shroud shook his head with a sigh. If anyone told him that he’d be teaming up with _Myth_ at any point, he would’ve laughed right in their face. But he supposed that this was the effect Sykkuno had on people when the man made it a habit to befriend the most dangerous people in all the Network.

“You’re taking out a kidnapper,” Shroud said as he placed the bag of scrap on the table as a showcase of his payment.

“Goblin hunting?” Myth smiled. “My favorite kind of job.”

* * *

Time passed as the operation was planned and the team converged. They assumed that it would go well…

…but how wrong they were.

Ludwig groaned from his position on the ground, pain coursing through is body from the multiple wounds sustained from gunfire and from the salvaged sword buried into his stomach. He desperately wished that they would all just heal _faster_ but there was only so much he could heal even as an immortal when he was starved and tired.

He expected the operation to go smoothly with his assembled strike squad of Sonii, Ash and Rae. They ran into the airfield with guns at the ready, and split into two teams to carefully scope out the area before sneaking their way in.

It was going well until he noted that Rae and Ash missed their check-in. He checked the map and noted their markers on the airfield missing. Cursing under his breath, Ludwig feared for the worst and prepared himself to encounter anything…

…except he didn’t expect a trap in the form it took.

They snuck through the edge of the field, careful in their movements when a message came through on the Network.

Ludwig checked his phone.

It was from Sykkuno.

‘Hey guys. I think I can make a break for it. I’m at the airport.’

His eyes widened. “No way,” he muttered under his breath. “How he did he escape?”

It seemed too good to be true. He immediately checked his team tracker to verify his location and sure enough, Sykkuno’s marker in one of the open areas.

He frowned, skeptical of the situation. But true or not, he had a mission and his objective was in sight.

Ludwig glanced back at Sonii, seeking his input and the other man only nodded in turn. They moved together into the field and stuck close to the walls, moving as stealthily as they could. They were sure that Team Rocket were in the area, but they didn’t know where. Knowing xQc, he’d likely be sniping while mendo and Greek stayed on the ground. So, they took every precaution to move as quietly as they could until they reached their target.

Moments and silent steps later, they reached the field and noted the clothed person in the center of the area.

Ludwig’s eyes widened in recognition. It was _definitely_ Sykkuno.

“Sykkuno!” he cried in relief, forgetting stealth in favor of checking on his teammate.

Ludwig ran towards him as Sonii made an incredulous noise behind him. Sykkuno turned with eyes wide in surprise…and horror?

“Ludwig, run!” he cried just as a shot rang out and met its mark in Ludwig’s shoulder.

Sonii dived for cover and Ludwig dragged Sykkuno behind a wall as the exchange of bullets began. Having secured Sykkuno, Ludwig thought that they could make a break for the exit. However, it was easier said than done when the fight was one-sided as Team Rocket outmaneuvered and outgunned them.

A bullet to the skull took out Sonii until his next resurrection. Ludwig was shown less ‘mercy’ as the enemy trio pinned him to the ground with a sword – a message to any others who _dared_ attempt a rescue until they were taken seriously and got what they wanted.

He could only watch helplessly as they dragged Sykkuno away, tears streaming down their hostage’s face as he cried Ludwig’s name.

Ludwig shouted curses over and over from that moment. He hated that he didn’t do better. He hated that he couldn’t do more. He hated that he _failed_.

Time passed as his healing slowly kicked in. He didn’t know how long he laid there, weak and pinned by the sword, but it felt like hours until someone stood over his form. Two figures towered over where he lay, one with a smile and one with a distinct red eye.

“Need some help?” asked a familiar voice.

Ludwig didn’t get to answer before the sword was forcefully ripped out of him in one fluid motion by the other figure, and he had to bite his lip to keep from screaming.

“Could you warn me next time?” Ludwig said weakly as Jack reached out a hand to help him up. He took the help, moving unsteadily onto his feet and Jack caught him to keep him upright as his healing of his wound finally quickened without the sword obstructing it.

Jack smiled at him apologetically and was about to speak when Corpse cut in.

“Where’s Sykkuno?” Corpse demanded, stepping closer to Ludwig’s eye level.

“They used him as bait,” Ludwig explained, wincing as he tried to stand and failed. “They set a trap for us then took him back. I don’t know what happened after that.”

Corpse let out a low growl and Jack frowned.

“The area’s clear,” another voice said. All three looked up to see Toast walking up to them. “Looks like they took him to another location – somewhere more secure.”

Jack nodded in agreement. “Then we speak to Shroud. He’ll cover the air, Myth’ll cover the north side and we cover the south. They couldn’t have gotten far.”

Ludwig let out a breath in irritation, bowing his head in shame. “Sorry, guys. I tried to save him. I…”

“It’s alright, Lud,” Jack said gently cutting off Ludwig’s self-depreciation as he guided him to a nearby wall. Jack then set him down to sit, leaning against the concrete structure, and gave him a reassuring smile. “You did what you could, buddy.”

Toast smiled at him knowingly as Jack stood and walked back to where Toast stood with Corpse.

“Leave the rest to us,” Toast said as Jack passed him to exit on the south side of the airport, and he followed close behind.

Corpse glanced back at Ludwig with an impassive expression.

“We’ll get him back,” he said firmly.

Then Corpse turned and ran after the rest.

Ludwig was taken aback for a split second before he smiled, finally feeling himself relax with reassurance.

After all, if anyone could get Sykkuno back, it would be those three. And with Shroud and his team on their way, he knew the operation was in good hands.

Ludwig sighed in tiredness and looked up at the sky in determination as a helicopter flew overhead.

He may have failed his attempt, but this was far from over.

He knew they would fight – they would _all_ fight for Sykkuno.

He knew they wouldn’t stop until they got their friend back.

And with how xQc played this ‘game’ of theirs, he knew this would be war until they won.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's that. No long fic because I basically just wanted to make everyone look badass. XD
> 
> Going to note that there will NEVER be a ship in any of my stories unless the people were together IRL.  
> But I will write friendship fluff though if the inspiration is right.
> 
> If there are any other suggestions for retellings of events in the Rust server or any other games or other youtubers/streamers, let me know via comments or DM me at throwaway7887 on Twitter. Could always use inspiration.


End file.
